Street stop-light sign



Mayn 1s, 1926. Y 1,584,967

H. P. ANDRESEN STREET STOP LIGHT SIGN Filed March '7, 1925 Patented May 181926';

1. AnDnEsEN, or cmcaeo,'n.nmo1s.

vs'rnulrr s'roruen'r SIGN;

Application led latch 7, 1925. Serial No. 13,727.

My' invention .relates generally .signs for regulating vehicle traiiic but relates more A start and vstop light' sign particularly to signsfor use at street interat street intersectionsl two general kinds'of signs., one known as a whichA controls the trailic upontwo or more lstreets and the latter 'class of signs.

. vard and other Azo ` Such practice of entering a through street without stopping obtains, however,

other type known as a stop sign, which requires traiic to come to a stop before entering the main highway or thoroughfare.

` My linvention'relates. particularly to this `Such signs are used where local .ordinances or other trailic rules require that the vehiclecome to-a full'stop before entering upon or crossing` certain thoroughfares, such for example as Va boulehighways variously know as arterial highways and the'like. Persons driving upon such through streets, ar- 'terial highways,

fand the like, knowing-that the rule's and regulations' require traliic to come to a stop before entering or crossing the same rel upon that lvfact so that it is dangerous w e such streetwithout first coming to a stop.

to a very considerable extent, .nothecause the motorists Aare willful Aviolators `of this regulation, but very largely because 'under `modern traiiic conditionsgheisl not given timely and g proper notice with-'the devices'hitherto de- 1 the lettering upon Y until the motorist is practicallyl im .to stop the -vehicle as required. l e traic conditions and` vvised. That is to say, man

'reasonale distance;A even 1n. and, of course, arenot led to lthe ofthe through 'street'. stop signs are mere y a flat surface having printed' thereon a notice to stop. Such si -cannot be readily observed at any the day time visible at night. This ractice, iir some instances, of middle, of the Such latter type to solve the lacing a llght in the 01` illuminating purposes. of sign has failed, however, problem because Vit has e giving a general illumination to the sign as a whole. -That lis to say, the warning cannot be observed at any greatl distance and the signs cannot be read upon` the sign'which may be too late forv Again under modern with thethroughl street sto signs hitherto I used' theign may. be tot y obscured, as forex ple, when vehicles are parked adjacent `such signs or are movingpast the en a motorist enters or crosses resulted in merely same in the lline of visionof the oncoming motorist- The general object of my invention is to provide a through street stop light sign which shall function to warn the motorist a very considerable distance therefrom that there is 'danger ahead and which shall also make visible and legible to the motorist the inscription or indicia carried by the sign at a much greater distance than is possible with signs of the type heretofore devised.

More specificallyit'is an object of my invention to provide a signof the type refer- I`red t0 which shall project a warning light at relatively great distance as by the conversion. of light rays proceeding `from a luminous source Ainto a definite 1pencil of light and which sign shall 4alsobear an inscription distance by virtue of the conversion of light, by reflection,`into parallel away from the sign in the direction in which they are to be viewed.

Again,it is an object of my invention to provide a stop light sign of the character mentioned wherein a smglesource of light shall serve, for both pur ses; in which the shape'o'f thefsign shall such as-to Afunction most efficiently and hat the -s'ame time ,protect the which shall be of simple, durable, and rela- .ftively inexpensive construction.

'My invention consists generallylof a street stop light -signof such form, arrangement, and construction that ,the above nam jects, together with others that will appear hereinafter are attainable; and m invention will be more readily 'understoo byreference to the accompanying drawings -which illustrate what I consider, at the present time, tor thevpreferred embodiment there o Y Fig., 1-is a front'face view of a device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 -is a .rear view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vview u on an enlarged scale, substantially along l 1; and

p acc at intersecting highways.

As here shown, the s1gn 1s composed of' a member which in face view is circular in shape, but this it should be understood is by wa of illustration and not by way of limitation as itniay assume other shapes. The

e e line 3-3 of Fig. v1 os or indicia visible at considerable 73 planes extending parts from the elements; and v iio Gil

member 1 is substantially concave in form, thus providing an inner surface 2 which is here shown as of parabolic shape. On this parabolic surface 2 I have provided the desired indicia or inscription 3 which, in the present instance, comprises the Word Stop arcuately disposed in the upper portion of the parabolic surface and the Word Thrustreet similarly arranged in the lower portion. This inscription may be formed in various Ways, but I have here illustrated it as being formed by making the portion Within the confines' of the letters of a relatively good light reflecting character, such as a white enamel, and by making the surrounding surface 4 of a good light absorbing character such as dull black enamel or paint.

Centrally of the sign I have arranged a source of light which here takes the form of a concentrated filament incandescent lamp of which 5 is the filament, 6 the glass bulb and 7 the base or socket. The base or socket 7 is off center with respect to the focal axis of the sign for reasons which will shortly appear and is housed within an annular housing portion 8. The housing 8 is here shown as being cast integral with the parabolic member l and is somewhat conical in shape terminating in a centrally dis posed opening 9 through which the lamp bulb 6 projects. Surrounding the lamp bulb 6 is a tubular transparent member 10 which is held in place by a ring 11 and the long bolts 12. In the ring 11 I mount a lens 13 which is held means such, for example, as a snap ring 14. The lens 13 is so formed that the light rays 15 proceeding from the source of light in a divergent manner are converted into parallel paths to form a definite pencil of light indicated by the rays 15.

Certain of the 'light rays 158L pass outwardly through the transparent tube `1U where they impinge, some upon the opaque surface 4 where they are absorbed to a. very large extent and some upon the relatively goodA reecting surface of which the letters are formed as before described. Such li ht as falls upon the letters is reliected orwardly inparallel paths15b by virtue of the ing surface.

Because Aof the structure which I have thus lens 13 can seen at a greatdistance and if of color character such as red indicates to the motorists that caution is required, Thereafter, but still in ample time to bring the automobile to a stop even though moving at a ood rate of speed, the letters upon the sign come legible or readable. They stand out clearly and distinctly because there is a total separation of the central Warning light beam from the rays which parabolic shape of the reflectin place by any suitable 28 provided the pencil of light from the asse-,eea

illuminate the parabolic surface on which the inscription appears. A test of the sign has shown its marked superiority over the signs heretofore used for this purpose.

I also prefer to provide therear of the sign with a central opening 16 in which I place a lens 17 which preferably also converts the light rays into a definite pencil of light as indicated at 18.

The purpose of the rear lens or light opening will be best understood by reference to the diagram Fig. 4 wherein 20 represents the through street, 21 the cross street and 22 and 22 the signs upon opposite corners. Thersign 22 is intended to warn motorists going in the direction of the arrow A and the sign 22a in the direction of the arrow B. At times, however, the sign may be obscured as by an automobile 23 so that the 4motorist in the automobile 24 can not see sign 22. But he can see the light in the rear of sign 22 which unless the traffic was open wouldr give a red or other danger signal and he would probably realize that it meant to stop.

It Will be observed that the single lamp thus serves a triple purpose.

It remains to be stated that the sign is supported upon a pipe 25 through which the electric Wire 26 is carried to the lamp provided an underground circuit is available. If no underground circuit is available then the Wires may be taken through an opening 27 ,in the rear of the sign, this openingv being protected by a roof-like lip The concave or parabolic surface of the sign not only functions admirably in the matter of reflecting the inscription thereon but serves to protect the indicia and reflecting surface from falling objects, dirt, rain, snow and the like.

The many advantages of my invention will, Without further comment, be clear to those skilled in the art to which this appertalns.

I claim:

1. A street stop light sign embodying therein any incandescent lamp, a socket therefor, a parabolic Wall surrounding said incandescent lamp at least inpart, said lamp socket being positioned at one side of the focal axis of the sign, means for converting a portion of the light from said lamp into a projected pencil of light, said parabolic wall having an opening therein su that a portion of the light rays can be seen from the rear, said parabolic wall having light reflecting surfaces formed thereon positioned to form visible indicia.

2. A street stop light sign embodying therein an incandescent lamp, a Socke therefor, a parabolic wall surrounding said incandescent lamp at least in part, said lamp socket bemg positioned at one side of the focal axis ofthe sign, means-for converting` a portion of the light from said lamp into a projected pencil of light, said parabolic wall having an opening therein so that a portion of the lightrays can be seen from the rear, said parabolic wall having light reiiecting surfaces formed thereon positioned absorbing to forth visible indicia, and light surfaces adapted to accentuate said indicia.

In testimon;r whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 24th day of February,

HERMAN P. ANDRE SEN. 

